Thirty-one abandoned cats and kittens in hotel room

How did this happen? How did the hotel’s owners and managers allow a person to occupy a hotel room for one year with 31 cats! It seems extraordinary that this situation was allowed to continue but it ended abruptly when the person disappeared and left all the cats that he or she had brought to the hotel room behind.

We don’t have much on this but the hotel (actually a motel) is called the Colony Inn Motel and it is situated at a place called White Marsh, Maryland, USA. It’s not far from Baltimore and Washington. For European visitors and visitors from other countries, this is on the east coast of America not that far from New York City.

Stacey Burgess of the Baltimore County Department of Health And Human Services has confirmed that the cats were found alive at the motel on Pulaski Highway in White Marsh. Some cats were suffering from health issues, some were pregnant and there was the usual fleas and intestinal parasite issues which you find with neglected cats.

The cats had access to food and water but the room was in a bad way with a strong ammonia smell. They had to wear hazmat suits, which also is the usual situation when rescuers go in under these circumstances.

“We will do all that we can to make sure that all the animals are well taken care of, and they receive the treatment that they need and deserve. No animal should be abandoned. No animal should be mistreated or hurt.”

Stacey Burgess

As usual, Baltimore County Animal Services will do their best to adopt out these cats into new homes. The owner of the hotel knows who the person is and, as I understand it, is being tracked down to face possible charges. This is obviously a crime but, judging from personal experience of reading about these sort of events, I would expect that the person involved is not charged or punished. Perhaps he or she needs treatment instead. It is the first time I have read of a hoarder using a hotel room which is why I selected this news item.